Crisis on Infinite Franchises
by TopGear2k6
Summary: Inspired by DC Comic's Crisis on Infinite Earths, this new Crisis places all game Universes in mortal danger as a shadowy villain assimilates them into his own anti-verse.
1. We Begin

_I exist in a place that is beyond time and space. Back when I wielded real power over this reality, the chosen few that knew of my existence called me Princeps. Those days are long over, now. Now HE is taking over my creation. Not satisfied with what he had already ruled with an iron fist, HE has taken to devastating entire positive-matter universes that were once under my control, and assimilating them into his anti-matter universe. I cannot do anything but watch on my monitors. Currently, HE is advancing on a universe that I designated Earth R…_

**Grove Street, Los Santos.**

Carl "CJ" Johnson was just walking back into his house after making his rounds around the neighborhood. Recently crack dealers have been making a resurgence in the state of San Andreas, and he and his brother, Sweet, were determined on keeping the crack out of the realm of the Grove Street Families. Ever since Big Smoke's betrayal, well… It had gotten a lot harder to keep a lid on things. CJ's other business interests in San Fierro and Los Venturas had long crumbled, and with the election of a new police commissioner, the hammer had been brought down on the Families. Times were hard.

CJ walked into his living room, where his sister and GSF bookkeeper Kendl was watching the news, as she always did at this time. Usually the news dealt with the death of a youth or massive business corruption exposed. Today, though, the news was a little odd…

"Astronomers have announced earlier today that their instruments are losing their sight capabilities. The limits of what the Hubble Space Telescope could see have been steadily decreasing with no explanation as to what is wrong. Head NASA technicians have stated it to be a failing power reactor."  
"Damn it," Kendl said. "They spend billions of dollars of taxpayers' money and they can't even wire their circuits right. What a waste."  
Sweet came up behind the couch and pushed Kendl's shoulder a little. "Good thing we don't pay taxes then, eh?"  
"Quiet, Sweet. You don't know if the house has been bugged or not," CJ warned.

CJ continued into the kitchen and his Dinner for Kings was already laid out. Cluckin' Bell. Oh joy.

**A week later.**

The TV was talking again. "Mass panic has resulted as scientists steadily lose visual contact with more and more of the universe, and even planets within our own solar system. There are no more stars in the night sky either. Many folks are predicting the end of the world…"

"I'm scared, Cesar," Kendl clung onto her husband, Cesar Vialpando.

"CJ, what are we going to do? The hood's panicking along with the rest of them!" Sweet demanded of his brother.

"Get heated and get some soldiers, Sweet. We gotta lock down Grove Street. The police ain't doin' nothing."  
"I hear ya, CJ. Leave the guns to me." Sweet ran out the front door.

"Cesar, you and Kendl clear out of Los Santos. The city ain't safe no more, and I don't want my sister to get hurt. You hear me? There's an old house at the base of Mount Chiliad. Nobody's living there now, use it as a hideout. Me and Sweet will be there as soon as we can. NOW GO!"  
Cesar did not say a word, but gave a nod to CJ as Kendl dragged him out of the house to his lowrider. CJ was left alone for a minute to comprehend the complete ridiculousness of the situation. It couldn't really be the end of the world, could it? He shook those thoughts out of his head and went outside to get his car and recruit some good soldiers.

The cityscape in the distance burned with such intensity that CJ could feel the heat from it, and it gave off a sickly red glow over everything. Wait, why was it dark out? CJ checked his watch. It was 3 in the afternoon! Where is the sun? To the south, about a block away, there was a loud burst of gunfire and screaming. A block… South… That's where the Families' gun contact was! No! CJ leapt into his car and burned rubber all the way behind the convenience store where their contact was.

People were running screaming out of the alley, some with multiple guns in their arms, some with multiple gunshot wounds. CJ pushed past them into the alley. The people cleared out, and there was the Families' contact lying dead on the ground, perforated with lead. Next to him, Sweet.

CJ didn't allow himself time to mourn the death of Sweet. It only made Kendl's survival all that much more important, his only family. He could not leave her to die. The Families were finished, now. CJ got in his car deliberately and snaked his way out of the burning city, down the dirt trails of backwater San Andreas to avoid the packed freeways. Eventually the imposing Mount Chiliad rose in the distance. Away from the flames and lights of Los Santos, CJ noticed that the sky was a milky gray color.

As he approached the mountain, his car's engine failed. "Great time for a car to crap out on me…" He got out and hoofed it to the old house at the base of Chiliad. Five years ago this house was used as a base for the Feds to hold a snitch that was going to testify against Pulaski and Tenpenny. CJ almost wished those days were back.

CJ threw open the door, and on the floor in front of him, in a pool of blood, was Cesar Vialpando. Or, what was left of him. Something had completely torn his body apart, limb from limb, and it looked… Half-eaten. A screech behind CJ forced him to turn around and draw his trusty pistol.

Kendl was kneeling on the ground, blood coming from her mouth. There were deep gashes all over her body, and her clothes hung off her in tatters. CJ looked the person holding her in the eye, and it was… Himself?!?!

No, not himself. This CJ was dark… Almost like a shadow. But his eyes were bright red, almost like Satan. Nevertheless, the shadow's features were an exact duplicate of CJ's. "Who the hell are you?!" CJ demanded of the shadow.

It didn't answer. It merely grinned, then roared at the sky like a demon, tearing apart the house in a shockwave. CJ was blown backwards and his gun flew out of his hand. He struggled back to his feet. The Shadow CJ grinned, with a more demonic twist this time, and pointed up at the sky with his free hand. CJ looked up.

The Moon was slowly disintegrating. It looked like parts of it were spiraling into oblivion, pieces of it tearing off and those pieces being torn apart, until you couldn't see them anymore. CJ looked back at his Shadow. In a grunting, satanic distortion of CJ's own voice, the Shadow said to him "Rex is taking over," and grinned again. Kendl whimpered, and CJ was reminded as to her presence in this whole situation.  
"You better put her down right now, you… Thing!" CJ spat out the last word.

"CJ…" Kendl's voice was tortured, barely audible… "He… He…"

Shadow CJ pulled her to her feet by her hair and grunted into her ear. "What are you trying to say, dear? Any sex we had was completely consensual, wasn't it?" The Shadow made sure to look directly at CJ when he uttered the last two words. Shadow CJ swung Kendl into a classic kissing position, and forced himself onto her. After a couple of seconds of resisting quietly, Kendl's eyes suddenly flew open and she began muffled screaming. Shadow CJ dropped her to the floor, and grinned as blood dripped out of his mouth. He spat something onto the floor. When CJ looked closer… It was Kendl's tongue.

Shadow CJ produced a dark Walker Colt out of thin air and shot Kendl in the head, splattering brains everywhere. At this, CJ was consumed with unfathomable rage and charged the shadow, which was grinning widely the whole time. A brief struggle ensued, but the shadow easily overpowered CJ, and shot him in both his legs with the Colt. At the shadow's mercy, CJ asked him, "What is going on?"  
Shadow CJ repeated the words "Rex is taking over," and took several steps back. CJ looked up at Mount Chiliad, which was being consumed and torn apart by this cloud of oblivion. After thirty or so seconds, the cloud came up behind the shadow, and it began laughing maniacally as the cloud enveloped him. CJ looked all around, and there was no escaping the cloud.

The cloud came upon CJ. He was twisted and thrown about violently, then he felt his body beginning to stretch behind human limits. For a split second, indescribable pain.

Then nothing. Total, absolute, nothingness. CJ ceased to exist.


	2. Infected Universes

_My monitor to Earth R goes to static. Another universe devoured by HIM. Only five positive-matter universes still exist in this reality. However, they should prove exceedingly difficult for him to consume. Their vitality is strong and they are populated by notable heroes, heroes who could… Resist HIM. However, I may be getting ahead of myself. HIS anti-matter universe is overbearing. It would only be a matter of time before it consumes these remaining five universes. Already HIS energies are working on breaking down the barriers to these last five universes. Once their Source Walls are breached, it would only be a matter of time before the universes would be consumed by anti-matter like so many universes before them. Long ago, when I mattered, I designated these universes Earths Nin, Seg, Kon, Cap, and Nam. They were the furthest developed universes at the time I assumed power, and they have only gained in vitality… Vitality that HE would surely covet._

**Above Rubicon.**

Samus Aran leaned back into her pilot's seat and sighed. She had just completed a mediocre bounty she had received from the Galactic Federation police. Maybe she was a bit too good at her job. Was she clearing out all the bounties? Maybe she needed to let some bounties age, like fine Tallorian ale. Then again, criminals only did more wrong the longer she let them go. It was a catch-22. No lucrative jobs had come in since she betrayed the Galactic Federation by destroying the Biologic Space Station to destroy the X-Parasites. The military tribunal had acquitted her, but resentment was still harbored by the higher-ups.

Samus sighed and wished that she had not had to destroy Zebes. It was her homeworld and where she had grown up, been raised by the Chozo, given her Power Suit. "Something wrong, Lady?"

"If you were still alive, you'd understand, Adam."  
"I am alive and well, Samus. You know that."  
Samus snapped out of her stupor. "Oh, I keep forgetting that you're not just a computer. Sorry."  
"It's all right, Samus. We require fuel. We are above the planet called Rubicon. It has a small starport with a refueling station."

"Alright… Do what you must."

"Understood. I'm lowering us onto the pla – wait."  
"Wait? What are you talking about?"  
"I am detecting strange energy readings emanating from the planet. It is not safe, Samus."  
"Strange energy readings? What in the –"  
"I cannot identify them. These readings are not consistent with any known dangerous substance in the universe. However… My calculations are that it is dangerous, Samus. Every bio-form that has existed on the planet has expired. It is totally barren of flora and fauna. Yet…"  
"Yet what, Adam?"  
"Yet I ADSHCAS$#LJSFOZDVXCV)$Y!!#$PSDF-"  
"ADAM!?! What's the matter?"  
The ship jerked sharply to the left.  
"Aamjuiijtewat-!#$!5cmaADW"  
"Adam! Respond to me!"  
The ship was now shaking violently and Samus's belongings were flying all over the place.

"akjshydakys – Sh-shut me down now, Samus..ads..q. My… vksyaks SYSTEM is being corrupted by &$USDHASfasa… Something…"  
"But Adam, if I shut you down, you'll…"  
"SHUT ME DOWN!!!"

Samus reached for the shut-down button and was flung out of her seat. Now red warning lights were flashing all over the ship and the windscreen was obscured by static. Samus dove for the button and pressed it. Immediately all computer-operated systems died. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

**Tehran, Iraq.**

A body hit the ground with a loud thud. However, in the warfare of the city, it was never noticed. A man stood up amongst the dust cloud his entrance had kicked up. He straightened his bandana and made sure that he had not lost his trusty pack of cigarettes.

"Snake, are you there? This is Otacon. Was the aerial entrance successful?"  
"A bit rough, Otacon, but I managed."  
"Good. An aerial infiltration was the Colonel's idea. You can thank him later, a ground infiltration had only a .01 success rate in my simulations."

"Yeah, yeah. So, who am I looking for again?"  
"You're looking for Burning Hawk, a local warlord sponsored by Solidus Snake. He provoked the Middle Eastern War and makes his headquarters somewhere in Tehran. Remember, he has Solidus's backing."  
"And why did I get dragged into, this Otacon? You seemed overly eager to persuade me into this."  
"They… They have Emma, Snake."  
"Who has her? The Patriots?"  
"Yes. They've blackmailed me into forcing you to do this because it wasn't in their plans."

"You could have just told me that and I would have done it, Otacon…"  
"Anyway, Snake, my calculations tell me that Burning Hawk's headquarters are located 3 miles due north of your landing zone. Proceed with caution, remember, this guy basically has Solidus' entire army at his disposal."  
"I could have guessed that."

Snake felt a buzz in his ear. He swatted at it, thinking it was a fly. But it wouldn't go away. Instead, it got louder. Snake quickly surveyed the area around him. Nothing but him and the bombed-out neighborhood around him. Then what the hell was making that noise? Something at the very top of his vision caught his eye, and he glanced upwards just in time to witness a massive explosion. The wall of fire quickly caught up to him.

"Snake? Snake, can you hear me? There's just been a detonation of massive proportions in the city! ARE YOU OKAY? SNAAAAKE!!!"

**Peach's Castle; Mushroom Kingdom.**

Mario and Luigi were racing as fast as they could go down the path to Peach's Castle, after a Toad had warned them of trouble there. Figuring it was another Bowser plot, they had geared up appropriately and hauled tail. Eventually, the brothers crested the hill, and Peach's Castle laid out in front of them. There was billowing smoke out the base of the main tower. Another Toad, this one a girl, ran up to them.

"It's awful! It's terrible! It's horrible!"  
Luigi tried to calm her down. "What's the matter?"

"The castle was attacked by these strange shadows that looked like Toads! They were doing… Something to the Toads, and they turned into shadows, too! It was awful! Oh no! And the Princess!"  
Luigi stood up and looked at his brother. "We gotta go, Mario!" Mario nodded in response.

They kicked open the door of the castle to find… Nothing. Everything seemed pristine, in proper order. There wasn't even a speck of dust to be found. The doors swung shut behind them, and would not budge open. The brothers looked at each other, nodded, and proceeded. Mario took the lead, and creaked open the door up the stairs. Strangely, where the fire should have been that was producing the smoke, there was nothing.

They tiptoed up the stairs into the second floor hall. As pristine as the first floor. Their only recourse was to move up to the top of the tower. Going up the stairs, they suddenly heard an unearthly howl. They turned around to see a formless, pure black fog rising up the stairs at them. "Oh no! Mario!" Luigi tried to tap his brother on the shoulder, only to find that he was already hauling up the stairs. Luigi turned to run after him.

They climbed up the stairs on the balcony and ran up what used to be the Endless Staircase. Dead end. The brothers turned to face the fog that was rising up the stairs at them.

**Remains of Tehran.**

Snake coughed and stood up wobbly. He surveyed the area around him. There were not even husks of buildings anymore, just pure debris. Through the roar, Snake heard an other-worldly laughing. However, Otacon was screaming in his ear.

"SNAAAAAKEEE!!!"  
A voice in the background said, "You've been yelling into that mike for 15 minutes, Hal. You sure it's going to do anything?"  
"Otacon, this is Snake. I'm fine. Don't talk for a while, I need to find something."

Snake traced the source of the laughter. It never ceased, even for a breath. The source was just over the next wall of debris. Getting a firm hold, he propelled himself over the wall. However, he was not prepared for what he saw.

He saw himself. A dark, shady version of himself, leaning on a demonic, supernatural-looking rifle. His shadow self stopped laughing, took a drag of a cigarette, and flicked it away. "What in the hell are you, and what are you doing?" Snake demanded of the shadow.

The shadow stared directly at Snake, directly into his very soul, it seemed. In Snake's own voice, twisted into something of pure evil, it uttered, "Rex is taking over."

The shadow then hoisted the rifle into its arms and opened fire directly at Snake.

**Peach's Castle.**

Luigi was clinging to Mario, blubbering ceaselessly as the fog kept rising up the stairs. Suddenly, it stopped, and swirled, taking the form of Peach. In her voice, it said "Rex is taking over."

**Above Rubicon.**

Samus sat back in her seat. The ship's windscreen had switched to manual mode, therefore it was not subject to any interference. However, now her ship was plummeting towards Rubicon at an alarming rate. There were no warnings as Adam had been shut down… Forever. Samus grabbed the controls and tried to pull the ship up, to no avail. It kept falling and falling and falling… It entered the Rubiconian atmosphere and started burning. Adam's light suddenly turned back on, but glowed an eerie purple. "Rex is taking over…"


	3. The Infection Festers

**Pac World.**

Pac-Man was nearly rolled out of his bed by his wife, Ms. Pac-Man. He threw off the covers and jumped out, turning on the light.

"What's the matter, honey?"

"Something AWFUL is happening at the Pellet Bank!"  
"What? NO!"

Pac threw on his shoes and ran down a couple blocks of Pac City to see what was the matter. A crowd was gathering on the block to see what was happening. Pac fought his way through the crowd to find a police blockade. Behind the blockade, where the Pellet Bank used to stand, there was a deep, roiling black fog. He poked a police officer to get his attention?

"What happened, officer?"  
"We don't know. We just got a call about half an hour ago that something odd was happening at the Bank, and when we got here, the building was engulfed by this black fog. The officers we sent into the fog haven't come back…"  
"Pac City's entire food supply is in there!"  
"You think we don't know that? We're trying to find a solution, sir."  
"Maybe I can help. I am Pac-Man!"  
"THE Pac-Man, sir? Well, come across this blockade and we'll have you brainstorm with the Chief."

Pac slipped underneath the Do Not Cross tape and was escorted by several officers to a van with Command Center written across it. They entered by the back door.

"Sir, we have somebody who may help."

The Police Chief turned around incredulously.

"I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A SOLUTION!" he bellowed, his mustache blowing out with the force of his exhaling. The police officers recoiled with fear while Pac simply raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"Sir, this is Pac-Man!"

The Chief's eyes widened until they were nearly the size of dinner plates. "THE Pac-Man? The one that saved Pac City's food supply from the Ghosts?"

"One and the same, sir.

"Come on in, Pac! We can use your help!"

**The City, Year 200X.**

Mega Man hoofed it down the highway, littered with destroyed cars. Word had come in from the field that an insanely powered Reploid was wreaking havoc on downtown. Humanity was already getting fed up with Dr. Wily and the Reploid Army, any more crap and every robot in the world might be decommissioned… Including himself. No! Have to push those thoughts of his head.

Mega Man leapt over a truck and landed hard, his impact causing a crater. Zero was standing about 20 feet in front of him, so Mega ran over.

"What's the problem?" Mega Man asked.

"Bass is the problem," Zero growled. "He's wreaking havoc all over the city."  
"So, what's stopping us from getting to him?"

"I already tried." Zero showed Mega that his left hand was missing. Mega's eyes went wide.

"What the?! Isn't your armor supposed to be impenetrable?"  
"Yes, by anything from this world. But… Something's not right about Bass this time, Mega Man."

"Yeah, well, there ain't anything wrong with Bass that I can't fix with my buster!"

Mega Man transformed his right hand into his trusty Buster Gun and he ran for the flashes streaking across the city. As he ran across an intersection, a bright light whizzed past him and blew him right into a building. Mega sat up, rubbing his head.

"What the?! He's never moved that fast before!"

Suddenly, a figure stood in front of him, silhouetted by the flames from the city. Inside the dark outline stood out two bright red eyes. It spoke. It sounded like it could have been Bass, but… Something was different about his voice.

"I've been waiting for you, Mega Man."

The silhouette thrust out its right arm to the side and produced a large, Gothicly ornate Buster Gun, and pointed it right at Mega Man.

"NO!"

Zero dashed in from the side and swung wildly with his Z Saber, slicing Bass's right arm off.

**Bangkok, Thailand.**

This was it, the culmination of months of fighting, Ryu thought as he completed a hurricane kick and landed. Across from him, a figure thudded to the ground, then stood back up, smiling. The figure stepped out from the shadows, dusting his sleeves off.

"You fight well, Ryu. But it isn't anything I haven't seen before. In time, you will fall, like the rest of the fighters that have challenged me."  
"I'm not like the rest, Bison. I will bring you down."

"Cockiness is always a catch-22, Ryu. Surely you know that. Well, look at that, you would appear to have knocked my hat off."

Bison bent over to pick it up, and Ryu saw his opportunity.

"SHORYUKEN!"

Bison suddenly looked up to see Ryu diving at him. "What the –"

Ryu brought his fist up in an uppercut with preternatural force. Ryu could feel Bison's jaw deform around his fist, and as he completed his follow-through, Bison launched upwards, and crashed through the roof. After a second, he fell back through and landed, cracking the tiles on the floor. Bison got up tenderly.

"Fair enough… You win this round, Ryu. Next round is tomorrow at the same time. Be here."

As he left the ring, he was greeted by Ken. The two pounded fists and walked out of the shrine where the fight was held. "Nice moves out there, Ryu. You win one more round and you've iced Bison."

"The only reason I won that round was because Bison slipped. He's not your average fighter for sure, Ken."

"Yeah, well, I think you'll find some way to beat him tomorrow. After all, you got everybody else, didn't you?"  
"Yeah, but…"

The two were overcome by a shadow. Both turned around to witness a pure black fog descending upon them. "KEN! Get out of the way!"

Ryu threw Ken off to the side as the fog overcame them. Ken shook his head to regain his bearings, and heard Ryu screaming from inside the fog. As quickly as it descended, it cleared. Ryu was still standing there, but he looked as if he were standing under the night sky, though it was bright and sunny out. He looked up at Ken with blood red eyes, and with a grin, whispered "Rex is taking over…"


	4. TransSpace Emissary

**Planet Rubicon.**

Samus climbed out of the wreckage of her ship and shook the cobwebs from her head. The impact from the crash onto Rubicon had knocked her unconscious. In the cloud of her mind, one thing stood out right before impact. Something had said to her that… Somebody was taking over? She couldn't quite remember the whole thing. She did have the presence of mind, however, to activate her Power Suit. She took a couple steps away from the wreckage and stumbled. Her head must have taken quite a wallop…

She stood up straight and activated the keypad on her arm cannon. She punched in a code and the suit's computer booted up. An androgynous AI voice intoned "Chozo Power Suit, special version 1.1706, custom-built for the Hatchling. Welcome, Samus Aran."

She raised her hand and pressed a button on the helmet's left temple to activate the scanner, and the suit's computer collected data on her current surroundings. The AI voice spoke up again after five or so seconds. "Biosphere of planet completely depleted. Planet is unstable due to anti-matter reactions deep within the planet's core. Recommend immediate evacuation."

Samus looked around. Sure enough, this area used to be a dense jungle, but was now a craggy desert. The wind howled, and off in the distance, a dust storm of massive proportions was making its way across the horizon. She'd gotten out of worse situations, before. She managed to escape from a space station filled with ten soulless, full-power clones of herself, even with the Omega Metroid having stood in her way. She could get out of this.

A rock fell behind Samus. She whipped around and pointed her arm cannon at the source of the disturbance. Her eyes went wide.

**Pac World.**

"So, do we know what the source of this fog surrounding the Pellet Bank is?" Pac-Man asked the Police Chief.  
"No, we don't. Any attempts to collect a sample of it resulted in the destruction of the container used to hold it. It appears to be highly corrosive. Oh god! The officers we sent in there! No…"

A moment of silence fell over the fan. Pac broke it up.

"You didn't know, Chief. But right now, we need to get that stuff out of here so our food supply might be safe."

"What's your idea, Pac-Man?"

"We need a lot of fans."

"Power fans?"

"Yep."

**Hyrule Castle.**

Link burst through the front door of the castle and ran along the various hallways and passages until he found Princess Zelda on a balcony, looking out to Hyrule Field.

"Link! Thank goodness you're here. Surely you have felt the evil energies pouring over Hyrule in the last several days… They're concentrating on Death Mountain. I ordered Kakariko Village evacuated, but the energies won't stay focused on Death Mountain for long…"

Link tensed up, glowering towards the mountain.

"Link, it's really dangerous, but… I need you to go there. See if you can do anything against these forces. I'll continue to confer with the other Sages to see what we can do. Hurry."

The gate outside Castle Town opened and Link rode Epona full-gallop all the way to the abandoned Kakariko Village. He left her about 200 feet from the border of the town and proceeded on foot from there. By the time he made it to Kakariko's gate, the sky was a dark blue-purple, casting a bluish tinge on everything on the ground, which was in a state of serious decay and withering. Occasional dark blue sparks flew from the ground to the roiling clouds in the sky.

A roar from behind a house led Link to draw his sword quickly. There was a rustling in the bushes beside another house. The enemy was preparing an ambush.

**Peach's Castle.**

Mario and Luigi stood, staring agape at the form of Peach in the fog. Her features blurred a little, and the fog swirled around her once again. When the fog reformed, again, however, it was not the form of Peach, but of a deformed Toad with horns and blood red eyes.

The Toad floated in the air, regarding the plumbers coldly, and landed on the ground with a small _whump_. The Toad looked up at them again, and snapped its fingers. The castle shattered around them, and the brothers fell many tens of feet before landing on cold hard rock. Luigi was the first back to his feet, and he looked around to notice that there was nothing around them but the floating rock they were on and a raging, supernatural storm encompassing the area.

Luigi poked Mario, but he didn't move. "Mario?"

The Toad landed on the ground amidst a rain of debris from the castle, and started slowly walking towards Luigi.

"Mario? Mario?!" Luigi was frantically poking Mario by now. "MAAARRRIIIOOOOOOO!!!"

**Planet Rubicon.**

Samus was looking at a floating figure wearing a Power Suit not unlike her own, but pure black and decorated with various symbols, a helmet resembling that of a stereotypical Black Knight with horns, and a blood red visor. The figure raised its ornately decorated arm cannon at Samus and fired a red burst of energy at her. Swiftly ducking out of the way, Samus sidled up to another rock, then rolled out from behind it and fired her own shot, which the other Power Suit-clad figure dodged. Samus ducked behind another rock, then rotated out and fired a full-strength blast at the same time the other figure did.

Both missed by about an inch. The two stood there, arm cannons raised at each other. The Shadow Samus dropped to the ground.

"Who or what are you?" Samus demanded.

"I serve Rex," it responded, "and everything he stands for. I live as Rex lives."  
"Who is Rex?"  
"Your future lord and master. That is, if you survive the assimilation of your universe. Which nobody has."  
"What do you mean?"

"Many universes existed beyond your own, at one point. However, Rex realized that the ruler of the domain that you exist in, the Posiverse, was weak and ineffectual. He ruled with kindness and compassion."  
"And what's so wrong about that?"  
"In order to be a universal ruler, you must hold an iron fist over your domain and keep it in line. Rex's Antiverse is the very model of how a universe should be run."  
"But, what do you mean that many universes existed 'at one point'?"

"The very nature of matter and antimatter is to annihilate the other. Whichever there is more of wins the battle. The assimilation of the first universe was long, arduous, and difficult, but once we completed it, it was a steady domino effect, plowing through posiverse after posiverse."  
"Assimilation?"  
"Yes, assimilation. We took the posiverse for our own and converted it from matter to antimatter."  
"And what of the beings in those universes?"  
"I do not know of a single one that has survived, save for the ones that Rex handpicked to serve him…"

"Oh my god… Countless dead…"  
"No, not countless. One of my jobs in Rex's assimilation of the posiverses was to keep a tally of the perished sentients."  
"…"  
"Before we arrived at the Core Five posiverses, the death count was 156 quadrillion sentients. An average of ten trillion per posiverse."  
"Why… Why are you telling me this?"  
"I see no harm in a predator telling its helpless prey what its intentions are. However, I have bigger things to attend to than yourself, Samus Aran. Good luck trying to resist Rex."

Lightning struck the shadow, and it disappeared in a large cloud of black fog. After the thunder faded, Samus heard a faint trail of laughter…


	5. Self Image Problem

**Kakariko Town.**

Link surveyed the area, looking for potential tactical advantages to any terrain nearby. The rustling in the bushes intensified, and as Link raised his shield, a four-legged creature, colored pure black, jumped out of the bushes to his right. Link stuffed it with the shield, then took a calculated swing with the Master Sword. However, the creature ducked it, sidestepped, and jumped at Link again.

This time, Link took a risk and swung the Sword as if it were a baseball bat, hitting the creature in midair and sending it flying back towards a house, with it screeching all the way to impact. Leaving a dent in the solid concrete wall, it fell to the ground, twitching. The bushes again rustled and Link spotted other creatures like the one he had just slain skittering off towards Death Mountain.

He walked over to the dead creature, carefully surveying it. It was unlike anything he had ever seen in his adventures before, radiating even more evil than Ganondorf's own vile creations. As he was examining this, he heard a _thud_ on the ground behind him, as if somebody had just jumped off a ledge and landed right behind him. He drew the Master Sword again and turned around.

**Remains of Tehran.**

Snake anticipated the gunfire and dove off to the side, making sure to roll enough to get behind a piece of debris, right as the line of fire caught up to him.

"Snake?! What's happening?"  
"Otacon! Something's shooting at me!"  
"Impossible! Nothing could have survived that explosion!"  
"… Otacon."  
"Yeah, Snake?"  
"I survived the explosion."  
"Oh, right. Sorry."

"I would just jump out and return fire, but you guys and your bullcrap 'on-site weapons procurement' screwed me over! How the hell am I gonna take this guy?"

Over the constant gunfire, Snake heard the shadow taunting him. "I can stand here all day, Dave! This baby never needs to be reloaded and never runs out of bullets! Praise Rex for his technological advances!"

"What was that, Snake?"  
"He knows my real name…"  
"No, about the not needing to reload part. There's no such thing as a gun with infinite bullets."

"Well, there's no such thing as a guy who's grayscale all over and has bright red eyes, either, but he's standing there firing at me!"

"Snake… I have an idea, but even if you execute it perfectly, there's very little chance of you being successful."  
"Give it to me, Otacon. .01 chance is better than no chance."

"Your cigarettes. Take the pack and throw it in one direction away from your cover. This should distract him just long enough that you can dart out the other side and dive over the crater wall to escape him."  
"I see… Well, I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work, it was nice knowing you, Otacon."  
"Good luck, Snake."

Snake took the pack of cigarettes out of his uniform's chest pouch, and took one last one out for good luck. His fingers tensed around the box. He counted to three, and heaved the pack to his left.

**Pac World.**

"Pac-Man, we have the fans ready when you are!" a police grunt called out. The Chief turned to Pac-Man.

"What exactly causes you to believe that this idea could work?"  
Pac flashed him a grin. "It's a cloud, right? Clouds get blown away by wind. We're about to generate a lot of wind."

Pac-Man gave the thumbs-up signal to the grunt, who nodded in response and shouted orders in his headset. Set up all around the perimeter of the engulfed Pellet Bank were industrial-grade power fans, each capable of generating winds up to 60 mph. All at once, they started up and ran at low power. The fog held fast.

"Pac-Man…"  
"Tell them to turn the power up to medium."  
"Power to medium, fellas!"

The fans whirred angrily at the Pellet Bank, but the black clouds still clung close.

"Oh man. This stuff is tougher than it looks. We gotta go to high, Chief."  
The Chief sighed and raised his comm. "Power to high! Pac, this is gonna put a strain on the power system.  
"Don't you think that saving Pac City's food supply would be worth it?"

The fans now screamed at the Bank, but still the clouds would not budge from its walls.

"What do we do now, Pac-Man?"  
"We still have one more power setting left to go. We can't leave anything on the table, Chief."  
"Power to ultra high!"

The lights around the city dimmed as most of its power was channeled through to the fans, all of which were utilizing every bit of energy they could get to generate the maximum wind speed. After 20 seconds, though, something in Pac City's power grid snapped, and all the buildings grew dark, the fans went silent.

But then, seemingly, a miracle. The fog lifted itself off of the Bank. The crowd gathered outside the police blockade cheered as it drifted upwards. However, the black cloud swirled around and condensed into the form of a gigantic Pac-Man with bright red eyes. It landed on top of the Pellet Bank skyscraper, causing major structural damage, and stood on the building, holding onto its spire as it surveyed the city from its perch. The city was dark, yet this dark Pac-Man's eyes glowed as brightly as the setting sun.

Pac-Man and the shadow made eye contact.

**Kakariko Village.**

A shadow stood in front of Link. It wore a set of heavy knight armor with a full-face helmet, and stood with a gigantic claymore stuck in the ground with odd engravings on its blade. Black wisps of fog trailed off its body, as if it were made of pure shadow. The dark knight pulled its claymore from the ground and lowered into a battle stance. It enticed Link with its forward arm.

Link hesitated, eyes darting around to find any terrain advantages he could utilize to avoid direct combat, which he could not win even with the Master Sword. The knight apparently grew tired of waiting and charged at Link, raising its claymore above its head as it did so. Link jumped and grabbed held of a ledge to his left and pulled himself up as quickly as he could.

The knight barely missed him, bringing his claymore down in a swing of unimaginable power. It made contact with the house wall that was directly behind Link and completely obliterated it, exposing the interior of the house. Link darted down a ways from where he mounted the ledge, sheathing the Sword and taking out the Hero's Bow as he did so. He pulled out an arrow and stopped, whipping around to fire off a quick shot at the knight. The arrow bounced harmlessly off his shoulder plate.

The knight turned around and looked in Link's direction. It stuck the claymore in the ground by the blade and balled its right hand into a fist. The knight jumped several feet in the air and held his fist high above him, landing hard and bringing his fist upon the ground with such force that the ground cracked, and the ledge that Link was standing on collapsed. Link fell backwards and cracked his back across a rock. He rolled off of it, in extreme pain.

Lying on the ground on his stomach, he heard the knight slowly taking steps toward him. He rolled over onto his back just as the knight stopped to tower over him. Slowly, it removed its helmet.

After the knight finished taking off his helmet, Link was looking directly at his own face, twisted by evil.


	6. L is Real 2041

**Pac World.**

As mass panic resulted beneath him, and the Chief beside him barked orders into his radio to officers long gone AWOL, Pac-Man and the large shadow atop the Pellet Bank stood transfixed, staring at each other. Pac was only jolted from his trance by the Chief grabbing him by the arm.

"We've got to get to my squad car! Come, Pac-Man!"

The pair descended several flights of stairs to street level, and out the building, where a black and white sphere with wheels and a light-bar awaited them.

"Get in the passenger's seat, I'll try and get us out of the city."  
"But what about the people, Chief?"

The Chief looked back at Pac with a glum expression on his face.

"Either some people die now and we live to save the rest, or we die trying to save everybody now and they all die."

"I understand…"

Their philosophical moment was interrupted by a gigantic roar from the shadow atop the building. It jumped down from the top of the Pellet Bank, creating a huge crater from its landing point. It swung its fist and punched the Bank with all its might, blasting it to pebbles. The Chief's eyes went wide.

"No! The food supply! Pac, in the car NOW!"

**Remains of Tehran.**

Shadow Snake ceased firing. "What the… What the hell is that?"

As he walked over to investigate the piece of debris, Snake bolted off to his right, heading for the ring of debris that marked the area where the shadow had set up camp. Shadow Snake looked up to see Solid Snake booking it.

"NO! You must die!"

Snake took a flying swan dive over the pile of debris as the shadow hoisted its rifle again and commenced fire. The bullets whizzed by him as he hung in the air. Hung in the air too long. Stupid soldier, Snake thought to himself. You're gonna die because you jumped too damn high.

**A rock floating in the unknown.**

Luigi was at this point beyond the point of despair, and lethargically poked Mario's motionless body, barely coherently mumbling "Mario…" The shadow Toad that had destroyed Peach's Castle with barely a thought stood not more than 6 feet away from Luigi, staring at him with cold, red eyes.

Something inside Luigi snapped. His face changed from glazed over to furrowed with fury, and his hands balled into fists. He stood up to face the Shadow Toad, growling and shaking uncontrollably. Luigi reared back and screamed a primal roar to the other-dimensional, stormy sky.

As he did so, a lightning bolt descended from the hellish clouds above and struck Luigi, creating a flash of such intensity that even the demonic shadow had to shield its eyes. When the flash faded, Luigi stood tall and proud. Or was it Luigi…?

**Remains of Tehran.**

Snake hit the ground in a somersault and rolled up to start running. As he did, he noticed an electric pain in his right wrist and looked at it as he ran. A gunshot wound. You stayed in the air too long, you damn numskull, he thought to himself. Shadow Snake hoisted himself over the debris pile, and Snake ducked behind a wall directly to his right. He got on the radio.

"Otacon, the damn thing got me!"  
"Are you ok, Snake?"  
"He shot me in the wrist, but I'm not Swiss cheese, yet."  
"Snake, Colonel Campbell is here. I told him what happened in Tehran and he wanted to assist."  
"The Colonel? Just the person I needed."

"This is Campbell, Snake. Was that sarcasm?"  
"No, it wasn't. Nobody I'd rather have in my corner more."

"Alright, Snake, what do you know about this guy?"  
"He has a rifle that doesn't need to be reloaded. If I get in his way, I'm dead."  
"A rifle with unlimited ammo?! Er… Most interesting…"  
"He's not from this world, Colonel. I know we've fought some kooks and weirdoes back in our day, but he transcends even that. He was only 500 or so yards away from the epicenter of whatever created the explosion that leveled the city. I only survived because I was over a mile away."  
"Good god…"

A grenade landed in front of Snake. "Not a good day." He took off running but the explosion caught him from behind and knocked him to the ground. The shadow began laughing again…

**An unknown floating rock.**

As the smoke cleared, Luigi's laughter continued, long and maniacal. There stood a man not wearing the green shirt and overalls of the Mario Brother, but a black bodysuit with a green cape and a backwards L on his chest, and a black mask over his eyes. The hat remained, but it was now black with a white backwards L.

Luigi finished laughing and looked down upon the shadow Toad with disdain and smugness. He then dropped down into a fighting pose and beckoned the Toad with his right hand. "Have at you!"

An expression of rage came upon the shadow's face, and fog swirled over it, then suddenly blew away to reveal a horned demon about a person's size. It punched its fists together and growled at Luigi. He merely smiled.

The demon charged, and Luigi's dropped into a defensive stance. He raised his arms to meet the demon and hip-tossed it directly onto its back. It scrambled to its feet and shot off an expression of pure rage at Luigi. He merely put his hands on his hips and laughed like a stereotypical, barrel-chested superhero. The demon put its arms out and disappeared in a fog explosion, then multiple demons appeared all around Luigi.

Luigi merely sighed and shrugged, and as all the demon multiples charged him at once, he jumped up in a spinning kick and caught every single one of them across the face. All but one disappeared, the real demon. It staggered back and hissed angrily at Luigi. Looking down at its side, it saw Mario laying at its feet. Luigi noticed it at the same time the demon did, and both leapt for the body at the same time.

The demon caught it first in a roll, and continued rolling to its feet, holding Mario's body with one arm. Luigi landed on his feet and stood to meet eyes with the demon, who flashed an evil grin at Luigi and held a claw to Mario's throat. Luigi fell to his knees and put his head in his arms, weeping.

"No! Please! Spare my brother… He didn't do anything wrong… He just tried to save the world whenever he could, because he thought it was the right thing to do…"

The demon lowered its claw from Mario, looking at Luigi confusedly. Luigi raised an arm to the demon.

"Spare him! Take me instead…"

Luigi then let a look of anger flash across his face and blasted the demon precisely in the face with a green fireball, sending him flying while dropping Mario. It flew off into the distance, crashing into a pile of castle rubble, while Luigi stood up and ran over to Mario's body. Still no signs of life.

The demon reappeared behind him, and spoke in a grunt. "You possess the body of Luigi, but not his spirit. Who are you?"

Luigi stood up and turned around to face the demon, striking a classic superhero pose.

"I am the Green Wind! I strike fear into the hearts of villains everywhere! And I will always prevail!

I AM MR. L!"


	7. Plan 9 from Outside Space

_No! Already HE has infected the few remaining positive universes… Drastic measures must be taken to ensure that positive existence is not wiped off the face of the Multiverse._

**Rubicon.**

Samus stumbled and fell to her knees. Her life support system was about give out. After all of her battles, all of what she had accomplished, how she had saved the universe so many times… Could this really be the end? Is it just a nightmare? If it's not, how will the universe fare without her? These thoughts crossed her mind as her visor HUD flashed red and displayed a flashing "NO O2" warning right in front of her eyes.

She stood up, and took another step, then collapsed.

**A rock floating in the unknown.**

The shadow disappeared, leaving Luigi alone on the rock. It began shaking, first slightly, then steadily, then violently. The edges began to disintegrate and spiral off into oblivion. Luigi looked all around him and picked up Mario's body, running in one direction, only to be cut off by the rock splitting into two pieces.

This was not looking good.

**Remains of Tehran.**

Snake was on his stomach as the shadow stood over him, pointing the rifle straight down.

"Relieve yourself of all your weapons," it demanded.

"I don't have any."  
"The hell you do. GET RID OF YOUR WEAPONS!"  
"I don't have any!"  
"Well, there's only one way to test this theory."

The shadow snapped its fingers and what could only be visually described as a goblin _poofed_ in from nowhere.

"This underling will now fight you to the death. When a soldier is backed up against the wall, he resorts to his weapons. If you really have no weapons, then he'll kill you. If you do have weapons, then I'll shoot you full of holes."

"A sink or float test, eh?"

The shadow merely grinned in response, and stepped back. A ring of flame shot up around Snake and the goblin.

"What the?!" Snake looked around him. He turned to look at the goblin, and it leaped at him.

**Kakariko Village.**

Link stared wide-eyed into his shadow counterpart's face for a second, then rolled out of the way in agony as the knight brought his claymore down upon the earth where Link was a second ago. He stood up on wobbly legs as electricity shot through his body. A fall of even half an inch more probably would have paralyzed him.

Link drew the Master Sword and settled into a tentative battle stance as the knight re-affixed his helmet and pulled his claymore out of the ground. A one-on-one confrontation of might was unwinnable. It had to be a battle of wits. Link glanced behind him and spotted a two-story house. Perhaps in close quarters, he could work around the knight's clumsy claymore.

Sneaking a quick sip of red Potion, Link turned around and ran into the house behind him, and closed the door, locking it. That would delay the knight a little. Link ran upstairs into a bedroom. He looked the room over and put his bag down. He rummaged through it and pulled out his old Goron Bracelet. The strength given to him by this would surely help.

Downstairs, a crash reverberated throughout the house as the knight kicked down the door. Link dove and rolled underneath the bed, making sure that he could see the entrance to the room. The house became silent, save for plodding footsteps downstairs. The knight did not bother searching the rest of the house, instead opting to go straight to the top. Up the stairs it trundled…

It came into Link's view from underneath the bed. Link pulled a rupee from his wallet and tensed up, waiting for the moment to alert the knight to his presence. The knight threw open a wardrobe at the other side of the room, expecting to find Link but finding only dainties. As it turned around, Link threw the rupee out from underneath the bed, and the knight zeroed in on it instantly.

**The City, Year 200X.**

The shadow outlined by flames simply stood, expressionless, as his arm cannon slid off from Zero's slice. Zero stood where he landed from his leap, panting heavily. The shadow dropped his arm and lowered himself to the ground. Mega Man jumped out from the rubble of the store that he had been knocked into.

"BASS! What's gotten into you?! You've never been so destructive before…"

Bass glared at Mega Man with bright red eyes that were not his.

"That was then. This is now, Mega Man."

With these words, Bass held his arm in front of his face and a new hand popped out from Zero's slice. Wiggling his fingers a little bit, Bass's first act with his new hand was to point at Zero.

"YOU! You interrupted my moment of victory. You will pay. As for you, Mega Man, when I'm done with him, you're next."

Bass dove at Zero and increased the size of his hand tenfold as he brought it upon Zero in a mighty punch. Zero drew his Z-Saber as fast as the eye can see and met Bass's punch with a parry. Zero took this lull to beseech Mega Man, "Go! Now! I'll distract him!"

**A dimension in turmoil.**

Carrying Mario, Luigi jumped from rock to rock, desperately trying just to stay alive. However, a misstep was inevitable. And it came, and Luigi lost hold of Mario as he tumbled into the stormy void.

**Pac World.**

It was mass hysteria on the streets as people stampeded to run away from the massive shadow Pac-Man that had just demolished the Pellet Bank and condemned the city to severe famine, if the city were not destroyed by the shadow. Pac-Man had to be practically thrown in the squad car by the Police Chief, and the Chief took off in the opposite direction of the stampede. The shadow Pac-Man turned around from bemusedly watching the panicked masses to spot the car speeding away.

Glowering, the shadow gave chase, throwing elbows to randomly demolish and damage buildings along the way.

"Chief! We're not losing it!" Pac yelled.

"I know that. Perhaps we can pull a couple quick turns on it and slip out."

The Chief jerked the wheel to the left and the car tilted onto two wheels as they screeched across an intersection onto a new road. The shadow slid a bit past the intersection and quickly resumed giving chase.

"Hold on!" the Chief warned, as he again threw the wheel to the left and slid the car into a narrow alley. The shadow stopped at the entrance of the alley and bellowed in frustration.

"I think we might lose him, Chief!"

No sooner had the words left Pac-Man's mouth did the shadow unleash an energy blast. Pac and the Chief turned around to see a wall of yellow light rapidly approach them, obliterating the brick and mortar as it did.

When it hit the car, they went airborne.

**Kakariko Village.**

The knight darted over to the bed, and thrust his claymore through it. As he did so, Link rolled from under the bed, and ran to the wardrobe the knight had just investigated. Using the power of the Goron Bracelet to aid him Link picked up the wardrobe and hurled it at the knight, and it broke apart into planks on impact, leaving the knight under it.

Link drew the Sword and leapt at the debris pile, coming down with the Sword in an impaling position. The Sword found its target. Undeterred, a hand shot out from the debris pile and grabbed Link by the throat. The knight stood up from the pile and held Link aloft in the air as it grasped the Master Sword and pulled it out of its chest. The knight slammed Link straight through the floor and a table in the living room, and jumped down with him.

The knight regarded the Master Sword in its hand with wonder. Link slowly stood up, now defenseless. The knight gripped the Sword tighter, and swung directly for Link's neck.

**Remains of Tehran.**

Snake threw his arms up to grab the goblin in mid-leap and threw it down. He quickly backed off and assumed a ready battle stance. The goblin rolled to its feet and charged Snake on the ground, and the two grappled. Snake had a leverage advantage, but strength was clearly on the side of the goblin, and it spread Snake's arms out and threw him over its head.

Snake lay on the ground in a play-dead tactic, and the goblin bit, bending over to check on Snake. He grabbed it by the bottom of the face and tossed it over him, springing to his feet and pressing his advantage by picking it up by the waist and slamming it onto the ground. The goblin somersaulted to its feet, and held its fists up in a boxing pose. It rapidly closed in and threw a left jab, which Snake grabbed and used to pull the goblin closer and use both its and his momentum to land a devastating right hook.

The goblin staggered back, and then charged back in, feigning a left punch and throwing a right kick. However, Snake was prepared and snatched the goblin's leg, then held it upwards to plant the goblin on its back. Snake then twisted its ankle in a classic wrestling ankle lock. The goblin began furiously pounding the ground in a sign of submission, and Snake let go.

"I defeated your pug-ugly thug, and I didn't even use any weapons. Did you have an outcome for this?"

"Did you really defeat him, Snake?"

Snake raised an eyebrow, then felt a body hit him hard in the back. The goblin pinned him to the ground, and then dragged him over to the boundary of the ring of fire. The intense heat from the flames started causing Snake's facial hair to burn. Snake tried to resist but was only pushed closer and closer to the flames as he did so…

**Pac World.**

Pac-Man tenderly got out of the car. He shook his head in an effort to jumpstart the process of regaining full motor functions. The first thing that hit them was the smell of things burning. Pac looked around, and Pac City was no more. Nothing but a smoldering pile of rubble with the occasional fire. Pac looked back into the car for the Chief. The Chief's face was firmly implanted in the dashboard. He was gone. Pac looked up from inside the car to find the shadow Pac-Man, now down to a regular size, grinning a toothy grin directly at him.

The shadow raised its hand, palm facing outwards, directly into the middle of Pac-Man's face, who was too tired and injured to do anything about it. The shadow started gathering a energy blast in its hand…

**Everywhere.**

A bright surge of light suddenly permeated through everything, anything, and nothing. It penetrated throughout the whole of positive creation, and everybody that existed in the posiverses Nin, Seg, Cap, Nam, and Kon felt drawn to the light, absorbed into it.

Then, the posiverses ceased to exist.

_My plan begins…_


	8. From the Frying Pan to the Microwave

_I had hoped this day would never come. However, I have had these plans since HE first came into his position of power. Like all rulers of the Antiverse, HIS ascension was plagued with blood and intrigue. It was the very way of negative existence. Blood begat blood begat blood. However, no ruler of the Antiverse had been bold enough to launch an attack on the Posiverse. Possibly because they knew of the potential consequences._

**Unknown.**

Luigi sat up slowly. He vaguely remembered fighting some sort of demon… But what had happened afterwards? He couldn't remember. Sitting next to him was a man dressed in a red trenchcoat and long, flowing white hair. He too, was unconscious.

"Uh, hello?" Luigi prodded the man a little bit. He groaned and stirred.

"Wha? What happened?"  
"I dunno," Luigi replied.

"Who's that?"  
"I'm Luigi, brother of the famous Mario."  
"Mario? Who's Mario?"

The man sat up and looked around while rubbing his head. "Be damned if I know what happened. I remember this bright light, and I felt like I was being pulled into it. Who'd you say you were again?"

"Luigi."  
"Nice to meet you, Luigi. I'm Dante."

**Still Unknown.**

Pac-Man sprang awake from what seemed like an endless nightmare. Panting, he quickly surveyed his surroundings. It was cold, gold, and metallic. He heard rustling behind him, and swiveled on his backside. A man wearing a lab coat and possessing a salt-and-pepper mop of hair was surveying an orange and yellow robot laying prone on the floor.

"Amazing… I've only seen this kind of technology in my animes…"

"Hey!" Pac-Man barked at the man.

"Wha – AH!"

The man turned around quickly and stumbled back over the robot. "W-who's there?"

"I'm Pac-Man, who are you?"  
"Aw, my glasses! I can't find them! Help me!"

Pac-Man ran over to the side where the man had stumbled and found the glasses laying a couple inches out of the man's reach. He picked them up and handed them to the man, who gingerly put them back on. The man blinked heavily and looked at Pac-Man.

"WHOA! Holy Christ! What the hell are you?"  
"Not what, who. I'm Pac-Man, savior of the Pac World… Well, I WAS."

The man extended a hand. "I'm Hal Emmerich, but you can call me Otacon. I was helping my friend on a mission he was on, and all of a sudden everything just went white and the next thing I know I'm lying next to this thing."

Hal gestured down to the robot.

"Well, I was sifting through the wreckage of my home city when everything went white as you said. So, what kind of robot is this?" Pac-Man asked.

"I don't know," Hal responded. "I've never seen this kind of technology in real life before. It's amazing."

Pac-Man bent down real low to study the robot's head. However, through the visor, he caught a glimpse of something…

"Wait! There's somebody inside! This isn't a robot!"

**As of yet Unknown.**

Kirby was investigating the walls around him when he heard footsteps from the shadows. He whipped around and assumed the most intimidating fighting stance he could muster, which was mostly him flailing his arms blindly and screaming. A raspy voice from the shadows responded.

"Whoa, there, fluffball. No need to go Bruce Lee on me. I think we're after the same thing."

Stepping from the shadows was Solid Snake. He towered over Kirby, and knelt down, regarding him with puzzlement. "What exactly ARE you?"

Kirby looked off to the side and put his hand to his mouth, then looked back at Snake and shrugged.

"Do you have a name?" Snake asked.

"KIRBY! HIII!!!" Kirby smiled broadly and waved both his arms at Snake, who merely raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

"Alright, then. You have any good abilities?"

Kirby looked to the side again in thought, then started dancing. Snake smacked his forehead. "Whatever, I'll take it."

A scream from down the hall caught both their attentions. Running down the hall was a girl, being chased by a giant shadow hound. Snake drew his SOCOM pistol and took aim, lining up the laser onto the hound's forehead. "DUCK!"

The girl obliged him and hit the deck as he fired the pistol. The shot buried itself in the hound's forehead and blew its head open. The hound stumbled and rolled on the floor, allowing the girl to run behind Kirby and Snake. The hound's head reformed and it stood up and howled. Kirby jumped in front of Snake and did his best intimidating growl impersonation right back at the hound. Snake tried stepping back in front of Kirby but was held back by a stubby short arm.

The hound charged, and Kirby produced a sword out of nowhere, and screaming like a primal monster, the blade became a blur as Kirby swung it all over like a maniac. The shadow creature was obliterated and the black fog dissipated. However, Kirby was still screaming and swinging the sword. "Relax, kid! You got him. Nice blade skills."

The girl was still clinging to Snake's arm and whimpering. "What's your name?"

The girl, seeming to realize what she was doing, suddenly detached herself and dusted herself off.

"My name is Xianghua, possessor of the Soul Caliber blade and sworn enemy of all who possess Soul Edge."

Snake stood as his brain tried comprehend everything at once. "The who and the what now?"

**Unknown.**

Luigi and Dante were walking down the hallway, looking for any sort of doorway to anywhere.

"Where could we be?" Dante asked out loud.

"I don't know. All I remember is fighting some demons, then… Something bad happened. I don't remember what."  
"Fighting demons, eh?"  
"Yeah."  
"Funny, I was doing the same thing."

Two shadows suddenly popped out of the walls to either side of the duo. Dante drew a sword and sliced the shadow into pieces, while Luigi whipped out a bit of kung-fu and karate chopped the demon into nothingness. The two looked at each other, smirked, nodded, and continued walking down the hallway.

**Still Unknown.**

"Is he dead?" Pac-Man asked.

"No, I can barely hear breathing throughout his life support systems," Otacon pronounced. "But I don't think I can shake him back to consciousness if he's wearing this suit. We'd just have to wait for him to come around."

Pac-Man leaned in real close to the helmet. "HEY THERE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

Underneath the visor, eyes shot open and the person in the suit sat up frantically, trying to wrestle its helmet off. Finally, with a _woosh_, the helmet came flying off and blond hair flew all over the place as Samus Aran tried to catch her breath. Otacon's jaw dropped.

"It's a girl!"

Pac-Man put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"  
"Yeah, I'm ok," Samus panted. "My suit's power is out, though. I almost suffocated, because the emergency air had just run out."  
"It looks awfully heavy," Pac stated, "you think you're going to be able to lug it around?"  
"I don't have to," Samus responded, and in a flash of white light her suit disappeared, leaving her in her blue bodysuit.

She stood up and Otacon, still agape, slowly fell over backwards until he was lying face up on the floor. Samus and Pac stood over him. "You alright?" she asked.

"Yeah…" Otacon mused dreamily.

Samus and Pac-Man looked at each other with a confused look on their face.

_I must test them before they're ready. I am certain of their success, though I must make sure they are ready to face HIM._


End file.
